18th century ship uncovered at Ground Zero

Euronews

Workers at the World Trade Centre in New York have unearthed the remains of a large ship.

The vessel is thought to have been buried in the 18th century at what’s now the Ground Zero site.

Archaeologists reckon the ship was sunk as lower Manhattan expanded more than 200 year’s ago.

Molly McDonald, archaeologist:

“It was apparently somewhat common to sink ships in landfill as people were building land further out into the Hudson river and the East river, but only a handful of these ships have been found so far, so it is really quite rare. It is just exciting to find it here on the World Trade Centre site.”

Specialists say they hope to save some of the 10-metre hull and are racing to record the find before exposure to air destroys the wood.

An anchor was also discovered a few metres away from the vessel at the 9/11 site, but it is unclear if it’s from the same ship.